


Unexpected Showers

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Coffee Shop, F/M, One Shot, background Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley - Freeform, barista!draco, i had a vision but it was missing the middle so kinda jumped, lil meet cute (kinda), ngl i just really want a latte, not perfect but had to get the thoughts down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24532060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Draco works the opening shift at The Apothecary, a cafe on the outskirts of a university just outside London. One day a rainstorm forces Hermione to find shelter at the only place open, a cafe with a book loft, mocha lattes, and a very snarky barista.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55





	Unexpected Showers

Draco sighed with a glance at the clock, sighing irritably as he pushed the blonde fringe so long it fell into his eyes back after seeing only ten minutes had passed. His long fingers tapped on the counter in front of him, the only noise in the otherwise empty cafe on the very edge of campus. Still, it provided income, something he desperately needed as he attempted to distance himself from his father after coming to university. 

A ringing went through the shop as the chimes hanging above the entrance were knocked by the opening on the door. Draco straightened then squinted at what appeared to be a walking, wet mass of hair. 

“Honestly, would it kill the news to be correct about the weather once?” The mass of hair grumbled, shaking out a thoroughly soaked jacket. Draco watched silently as she hung it and a bag that was practically bursting at the seams, before twisting her hair into a braid down the center of her back. Even so, small curls escaped framing her face, Draco couldn’t help but huff a laugh at the way her face scrunched at the offending locks of hair that refused to be pulled back. 

“Alright?” Draco smirked as she whipped around to stare at him, “I know shocking, an open cafe is actually staffed.” 

“It’s five in the morning how you can stand to be so bloody condescending is shocking.” She shot back. Certainly not a response either had expected by the way her entire face broke out in a blush, “Oh god, I’m so sorry. Just having not the greatest of mornings.” 

“Not expecting the rain?”

“Wasn’t that obvious by the water dripping from my clothes.” She gestured hopelessly at her clothes dripping on the floor, Draco consciously made the effort to not let his gaze linger on where the shirt clung to her chest, “Where is here anyway?”

“A coffee shop.” Draco shot back drly. 

“Believe it or not, that was clear to me by the presence of a barista and the massive menu behind you with a whole board on types of coffee.” She raised an annoyed eyebrow walking up to the counter. Oddly even though she only came to his chin, Draco had the oddest sense of being looked down on. 

“Well your perceptive abilities are a bit lacking since you’ve somehow missed the rain.”

“It came out of nowhere! No report said there was even supposed a drizzle, much less a downpour.” 

“What’s fantastic about weather is that when you look up and see clouds in all directions, it usually means rain.”

“You are such a git, there were no clouds when I left my flat!” Draco opened his mouth but she cut him off with a sharp glare, hair practically crackling, “If you open your mouth and say some rubbish like I should have been able to taste the coming rain in the air I will climb behind this counter and wring my clothes out on your ridiculous outfit.”

It was at that moment Draco realized how close she had gotten, hands braced on the counter, pushing herself up into his space as if ready to make good on her threat. His mouth had gone dry as he looked into her eyes that seemed to sparkle with anger so close to him now, swallowing the lump in his throat he forced his voice level, “The Apothecary.” 

She lowered herself back fully to the ground, blinking in confusion, “Pardon?” 

“The cafe, it’s called The Apothecary.” Draco cleared his throat, eyes darting the space just over her shoulder, “The owner read gastronomy, thought the science behind coffee was cool but didn’t like uni so he dropped out and started the shop on the edge of campus. Shelves books upstairs because his flat is too small for all his books on science, then it became a haven for all the people with bedrooms bursting with books.” 

The corner of her lip tilted up and he suddenly realized he had begun rambling, his ears burning, the tips probably a horrendously embarrassing shade of red. “Do you tell all the girls the history of the shop or just me?” 

“You would be the first.” He admitted. 

With a self satisfied nod she craned her long neck to look up into the nook above them, “It’s a good thing I love books so much or that could have been embarrassing, seems you’ve picked the right person to tell.” 

Silence fell on them as he found himself distracted studying her face once more, until a loud beeping came from the back letting him know the oven finished preheating. They both jolted, “do you want to order something to drink before you drip all over the books or do you have enough water soaked into your shirt?” 

She huffed indignantly at him, “I would never _drip_ onto books, I’ll keep well away until I’ve dried out.” Then with a roll of her eyes, “Medium mocha latte, ten pumps of mocha please.” 

“You sure you don’t just want an IV of chocolate?” She raised an eyebrow and he lifted his hands in surrender turning away to make it. When he handed slide it across the counter, something about the way she wrapped her hands reverently around the cup, breathing in the steam compelled him to speak, “On the house.” 

Her eyes snapped open at that, “No, absolutely not I’ll- I’ll pay for it. Just- I need to- bag, get my bag.” 

“All that and me offering you free coffee is what brings you screeching to a halt.” 

“I just believe in paying for my own way.” 

Something deep in him called to that sentiment, or just to her in general it was hard to separate at this point, “Maybe I’m bribing you to come back when you won’t drip onto the floor I just cleaned.” 

“I think the books will suffice,” she shot back then bit her lip, for the first time shy, “but thank you and um, I’m sorry about the floor.” 

“Not like I have much to do at the crack of dawn anyway.” He nodded at the deep armchairs by the front window, “go take a seat and at least warm up a little. If you want a coffee for the road you can pay for that one.” 

Though the words were spoken evenly he still worried that she would say no, make some excuse to leave, leaving him with the gnawing need to know more without answer. Warmth bloomed in his chest at her hesitant nod, still biting at her bottom lip. He sighed in relief as he went to retrieve the broom. 

Draco took longer than strictly needed to mop the floor, talking with the girl, Hermione, she had told him her name and he repeated at least five times in his head. When it was clear the rain was keeping any other sane person in bed, he lowered himself into the armchair opposite her. 

They spoke about everything from the weather to their studies to the club rugby team they mutually abhorred. Hermione hated it because she dutifully went to every game to watch her childhood best friends get “all bruised up” in her words as they all went to Uni in the area, Draco because he played on a different team and frustratingly never seemed to be able to win against them since the addition of her apparent best friend, Harry Potter. Hermione wondered if he had ever seen her, Draco insisted that it would be the gaudy red and gold jersey keeping him from taking notice, no matter how beautiful the wearer is. Just like that an hour of talking to pass the time became exchanged numbers with a promise for a date. 

Eagerly Draco called her that night asking if she’d like to get lunch the next day, and eagerly Hermione said yes. Lunch turned into a walk in the park, ducking into shops along the way, then into dinner. Both became enamored with each other, all their friends described them as sickeningly sweet but couldn’t help from smiling at the two. It was like they were made to balance the other, minds insatiable to learn more, sharp wit shot back and forth, two people who pushed themselves beyond expectation forcing the other to slow down while encouraging them to stay strong.  
Time passed like a dream yet Draco was back, opening the story before dawn and tapping his fingers on the counter working out his newest challenge, as he was three months before when Hermione first walked into the cafe. His lease would be ending in August, losing the flat itself wasn’t a worry, he was barely home anymore most days, or nights, if he was honest. He spent nearly all his free time with Hermione at her place in London that her best friend had inherited where she lived with him, her other best friend and third member of the trio, and Ginny who was Harry’s girlfriend, Hermione’s best friend, and Ron’s sister all at once. 

Once he commented on how odd it was, but the four smiled mischievously and turned on him, joining up to drink him under the table at a pub a month back. Apparently it was some pub game Ron and Ginny’s twin brothers had come up with with the sole purpose of getting one person absolutely pissed. That night Hermione and Draco trailed the group on the way back to the flat, his arm around her shoulders as much to pull her close as it was to keep him pdright, he told her that he loved her. It was more slurred really but she understood all the same and tackled him to the ground practically straddling him as she said it back. 

Not every day was great, once Draco snapped at the hugging and gentle looks from Hermione during finals insisting he didn’t need to be coddled and if she wanted to baby someone so badly to go wipe the food off Ron’s face. It was one of the rare occasions when they were at his flat, Draco’s stress from studying kept him glued to his desk, her shock quickly turned to anger, then to hurt. She gathered her bag and left, not before Draco saw her hand come up to wipe away a tear.

He spent an hour trying to study before guilt forced him to her flat where Harry met him at the door. Draco was reminded of why Harry’s team won their rugby matches as he was pushed back onto the street. Harry closed the door behind him and he made clear to Draco that no matter how much Hermione loved him, they hadn’t said it to each other yet and Draco’s heart stuttered even hearing Harry say it, he wouldn’t hesitate to beat the shit out of him before cutting all ties Draco had into her life. 

The latter threat almost made Draco sick, almost two months he had known Hermione and already it felt like if she left his life he would somehow lose the air to breathe. He was saved from having to respond when the front door open and Hermione’s soft voice called Harry back, on the front stoop he told her of the emotional abuse he experienced at his father’s hand, the complacency his father when the awful people he brought into his home hoping for political favor would beat him. 

She told him of her parents who proved the myth of red string of fate, who had died a few years prior in a car accident on their way to pick her up from school during a thunderstorm, how it lead her to living with the Weasleys, leaving her with the need to reach out and hold just to make sure someone is still there chasing her string until she met the person on the other end. He had known for a while, maybe too soon, that he loved her, but as she clung to his arm while he cried, whispering soft words into his ears and placing soft kisses on his face until every muscle relaxed, he just knew it was Hermione, that it would always be Hermione. 

A jingle pulled him from his thoughts, and he smiled at the woman who had just walked it, dressed in a sundress the same green as his rugby team. 

“A bit light for the morning.” He noted, smirking as she shrugged, walking confidently through the opening between the counter and the back wall.

“At least there’s no rain.” Hermione wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling him close, lifting onto her toes to bring her mouth closer to his. 

“Thank god for good weather reporters.” Draco whispered, breath breaking on her lips before leaning down to kiss her. The kiss was lazy and sure and she smiled as they broke apart, falling back to her heels. Hermione unwrapped herself from him and turned to being making a chai latte, something he insisted she try to curb the amount of sugar she drank with her regular order and she grudgingly admitted to liking. He smiled at her back as she moved with a surety through the cafe, “What are you doing here so early?” 

Hermione shrugged, “I was in the neighborhood.” 

“At five in the morning?” Draco pressed, leaning back into the counter. 

“This is the only shop open so early, why? I don’t know, Theo’s incessant need to annoy you.” Draco snorted at his idiotic friend, who opened the cafe on a whim then called Draco to help run it after promptly discovering he had no idea how to run a store or desire to wake up early enough to open it at the time he insisted the shop open. “I woke up after you left, and I found something.” She reached into her purse and held up the letter from his landlord reminding him of the end of his lease, “you didn’t tell me your lease was ending or that you weren’t going to resign.” 

“I know, I’m sorry.” 

“So, is this it?” Hermione asked, voice wavering slightly “Are you leaving?” 

Draco’s eyes widened, “No, no! Oh my god no Hermione!” He rushed her to put his hands on her waist pulling her closer ignoring how her crossed arms dug into his chest. “I didn’t know how to tell you about it. How to ask really.” 

“Ask me what Draco?” Hermione’s eyes still shone a bit and Draco sighed at having hurt her once more by accident from his damned inability to just open up. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to move in together.” His face flushed and he couldn’t make eye contact, this was not how he had thought this conversation would go, “I don’t want you to move out of the house, I know how much living with them means to you right now and I didn’t want to impose. I just thought I spend so much time there already so it wouldn’t be-” 

He was cut off by Hermione wrapping her arms around his neck pulling him into a sweet kiss. “Yes of course you can move in. God, I thought you were going to break up with me.” 

“How could I go a day without your hair nearly poking my eye other,” Draco teased, placing a kiss on the very hair he repeatedly has accused of being a danger to his life. Finally letting go he stepped past her to finish making her tea. “What did you mean by the way when we first met when you called my clothes ridiculous?” 

“Draco you were wearing all black, in the middle of March.” Hermione snorted, accepting the mug of tea made just perfectly the way only he could. “Wearing all designer brands with that stanned apron on over it.” 

“The clothes really weren’t that awful.” Draco countered. 

Hermione hummed, “maybe not, but the colors were all wrong. You love it so much when I wear green but haven’t noticed a theme whenever we go shopping?” She lifted a challenging eyebrow at him, with a glance down at his shirt. 

With a groan he realized that, and many other articles of clothing he bought with her was the blazing crimson of her friend’s rugby team. “You are a menace Hermione Granger.” He growled stepping closer. 

“Not too late to find somewhere else to live.” She teased, smiling as he ducked his head down to give her a kiss that promised more lazy mornings in the shop while the sunrise lit everything golden, dinners spent arguing with Theo about a new book upstairs, matches of her friends groaning at the green and silver jersey she now wore in the sea of read, of living a life no longer chasing the string because she knew she Draco was on the other end.


End file.
